


Palaven Holly

by solarlunarxiii



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alternative Sexuality, Children of Characters, Coming Out, Gen, LGBTQ Character, Self-Acceptance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 05:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2496950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarlunarxiii/pseuds/solarlunarxiii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Holly's parents have yet to hear his secret. As a child raised on the Asari planet of Thessia, son of the most famous war heroes of all time, there's no room for anything out of the ordinary. But behind Holly's embarrassment is an everlasting longing for a completely different race that is out of his reach- Turians. To end the guilt, Holly must find the courage to accept himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shame

There was a filtered muffle coming through the chrome door that Holly was sitting. Holly's nerves were twitching, palms were sweating, and foot was tapping rapidly on the floor like a woodpecker. Holly knew exactly why he was sitting there, and why his parents were both on the other side of the bright, flawless automatic door.

He was able to pick up the important parts of the conversation. "Thank you two for coming. I am happy that we have this chance to talk." Said an eloquent Asari woman who Holly recognized as his teacher- Professor Yngrid.

"We were happy to come." Holly's mother, Commander Shepard replied as solid and polite as she had always.

Holly heard the sound of Professor Yngrid's creaky chair as she leant on her desk. Holly thought back to all the days he was summoned to her office because he took a bathroom pass and never returned to class. "Right… I've called you both in here because I am very considered about your son. I worry for his emotional health, and his comfortableness at this school.

"Yes…we have noticed as well." Replied Holly's other parent, Dr. Liara T'soni. "He has been acting very strange and distant to the both of us as well."

"- Liara and I supposed that he just was entering into his teenage years." Shepard replied, her voice very soft and respectful to Holly's middle school professor.

"That could be…  _partially_ the reason… But I have my own opinions—as a childcare provider." Professor Yngrid in her soft, wise tone.

Holly attended one of the best secondary schools on Thessia. His entire life he was told he had the best opportunities to any child living on the Asari home planet. He knew how important his parents were— the courageous Commander Shepard who fought and saved billions of lives from the enormous reaper invasion, and the renowned doctor Liara T'soni who assisted in finding the answers to the extinction of the Protheans. He heard their story thousands of times, and knew that much was expected of him to continue their legacy and change the galaxy as they have.

"We're open to hearing whatever you think would help him." Liara responded calmly. Holly could hear her concern in her parent's voice—he didn't know he had worried them so much.

Professor Yngrid made another creak in her chair. "Today in class, since it is a Friday, I decided to let the class sit back and watch a movie for the remainder of the day as a reward for completing the assignment early."

"-What movie did you show?" Shepard asked.

-I played an Asari production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet." Professor Yngrid answered bluntly. Holly knew that tone, it was tone she was using when she wanted them to infer what she was hinting at on their own. A knot cringed in Holly's stomach.

"I see…" Liara said quietly, sounding concerned and troubled. Holly's other mother remained silent.

Holly knew in that instance that they knew exactly what was going on. Her parents were extremely smart—growing up Holly could never get away with a single white lie, or keep a secret for too long. He knew it wasn't before the secret he had been keeping for so long was revealed.

Professor Yngrid continued, "In the scene where Romeo and Juliet shared their first kiss together, Holly asked to be excused to the restroom almost instantly. I could sense the sad, dark aura surrounding his eyes when he left the classroom. That's when I knew it was probably time I call you two in."

"Has Holly acted like this before?" Asked his mother, Shepard.

"Yes. Ever since the school returned from the winter recess, his personality has changed dynamically. Did anything…  _happen_  during that break?"

There was a short pause. Holly could imagine it was probably Liara thinking with her hand on her chin. Liara soon responded, "No…No I don't think so. Our old squad all came together for Christmas like we do every year… and we have started to let Holly leave the house on his own and go to the mall to spend his allowance. But he spent most of his vacation at home, we were watching him."

"I see." Professor Yngrid replied. "When did you two start to see these changes?"

"I did start to see it start to develop towards the end of winter break." Shepard replied, "Sorry honey I had thought you had caught on also. He spent a lot of time in his room, and he only came out to eat meals."

Liara giggled, "I guess I'm not as proficient in humans as I would like to believe."

"If I may—" Professor Yngrid interjected, leaning back on her desk. Holly gulped, nervous at what she was about to say. "I believe we all can see what is happening with Holly. Recently a lot of the  _older_ students have started to bloom relationships with each other. Holly  _is_ the only human attending Vista Academy."

"So you think maybe he's just…lonely?" Shepard inquired politely.

"That is what I think, I'm afraid. I think Holly has started to envy the couples walking around campus and holding hands. He is a shy child, and he has hardly any friends at the school from what I've seen. It is a very concerning predicament…"

Holly heard her mother Liara let out a very concerning sigh. "We both feared this sort of situation occurring when we chose to raise our child here on Thessia. We both knew it was only a matter of time, knowing his age and all…"

The knot in Holly's stomach kept pressing into him, and his head started to ache. He was embarrassed that they were having this conversation about him. The worst part was that they were wrong- Holly had no interest in the Asari at his school, or even another human. All he wanted to do at that moment was bury his head in a mountain of sand and never come out like a shy ostrich.

"The one thing we thought would be best was naming him a female-androgynous name. We never knew his real name, so we thought it would be easier to blend in if his name didn't stand out that much among the people. Plus we both thought it fit him." Shepard said quietly. Even she was worrying for Holly.

"Where is he originally from, if I may ask?" Professor Yngrid asked.

"We adopted him from a human colony, Feris Fields. He was among a few of the survivors of the terrible collector attack they faced many years ago. He is a miracle…" Liara said. Holly had no memory of his family before he was taken in by Liara and Shepard. It didn't bother him as much, knowing his parents were the heroes that took revenge on the terrible race that took his birth family.

Growing up in the Asari planet didn't bother Holly as much as they were insinuating. Holly was comfortable around the Asari—the race had never given him much grief for just being who he was. His parents were concerned he would feel like a fish out of water, which he did at some times, but that wasn't nearly half of what was bothering him. The problems he was facing went far beyond Thessia, in a corner of the galaxy he could never reach.

Professor Yngrid was right. Every day when Holly walked down the halls of Vista Academy, he saw dozens of happy Asari couples holding hands and kissing. Holly envied their happiness—the warm feeling they had between each other when they felt each other's touch. But he didn't want that with an Asari, and he didn't want that with a human. Holly lived every day with an embarrassing longing for something that was out of his reach- and always has been since the day he first saw one. Holly yearned for a race that didn't even reside on Thessia- the courageous and handsome Turians.

Holly was ashamed of his infatuation with heroes of Palaven. As a little baby he remembered all the fun adventures he used to have with his big Uncle Garrus—from the time he was a toddler he always told his parents how much he wanted to grow up and be just like him, and go on tons of adventures and shoot targets on top of buildings at the Citadel. He was incredibly close with his Uncle Garrus, for whatever reason they had a very close bond. He was like a father to Holly.

But as time went on, Holly started seeing other Turians on TV—and recently, Holly at started seeing them in magazine data-pads. As much as it was embarrassing to Holly every time he purchased the latest issue of "Turian Men Weekly" at the supermarket, he couldn't help himself. Not only did Holly know that he was gay—but he wasn't even in love with his own species.

The conversation in the office continued on, Holly hadn't been listening but it wasn't easy to lend his ear back into the room. "- I think from what I've seen of Holly in the classroom," Professor Yngrid said, "It would be healthy for him to branch out and meet some more kids his age, perhaps outside of school."

"I like that idea." Liara answered.

"Professor, do you know of any events going on inside or outside of the school we could take Holly to?" Shepard asked, "Liara and I want to do anything we can to help him."

Holly knew how much his parents cared about him. There was never a doubt in his mind that they always had his best interest at heart, but he just couldn't admit to them his shameful confession. Even though his parents were two women _,_ both of different species, he couldn't bear the thought of letting them down by being such an abomination. Human and Asari were one thing, but humans and Turians? It was just unheard of.

Professor Yngrid replied, "There are many new school clubs sprouting this month at school. I will try my best to get Holly interested in one of these, perhaps meet some new people. In the meantime, isn't his birthday coming up? Why not throw him a party? I'm sure that will cheer him up."

"Oh, yes, we were planning on that this weekend actually." Liara stated, nodding her head.

"He is going to be 15," said Shepard, "Isn't that old enough to go into strip clubs on some planets? That should relieve some tension."

"Not funny, Shepard." Liara scolded, to which Shepard let out a small laugh. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Professor."

"I'm glad you think so." She replied. "I won't take up any more of your time. I'm pleased to see we're all on the same page for your son."

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention." Liara stated politely. "We'll have a talk with Holly tonight and see what we can do to help him."

"Splendid" said the teacher. Holly heard all of the adults in the office stand up and the doors squeaking as they etched across the floor. There were faint mumbles and murmurs coming towards the door along with the sound of footsteps. Holly knew they were coming out, so he adjusted his posture and looked down at the floor, acting natural so it didn't look like he was eavesdropping.

The automatic steel doors slid open quickly, and Holly turned his head slowly to his parents who emerged from the office with smiles to greet Holly who looked back at them with a nervous, anxious face. Holly's mother Shepard looked at him and asked, "Ready to go?"

Holly gave a nod, getting up from the bench he was sitting and standing in between his parents.

"Have a good day, Professor." Shepard waved to Holly's teacher who remained inside his office. Holly shared a nodding goodbye with his teacher before his parents led him off into the hallway. Liara's motherly hand was placed on his shoulder, and Shepard was walking close next to him on his other side. Holly stayed quiet, trying to pretend he didn't hear anything that they had talked about and had no idea why they were called in.

The silver coated hallways were still stretching on for a while. Holly knew he had to break the ice somehow or else his parents would likely ask him something he didn't want to answer. So thinking up the first thing that came to his mind he asked, "So, how was the parent-teacher conference?" As soon as he said it, he knew he sounded like an idiot for asking.

"It went well, I think." Shepard replied.

"I agree." Liara said, smiling down on Holly who was walking close by her—clinging to her naturally.

Holly nodded, not knowing what to say after that. He knew he could play dumb and pretend he couldn't hear them, a million possible questions came to mind, but he felt better just remaining silent to avoid causing problems.

Shepard looked down at Holly and touched his other shoulder, "Your teacher told us you left class today and didn't come back. How come?"

Holly got goose bumps at the question and felt his mind stand still. What could he say? That he left because he didn't to start crying like a baby to a Shakespeare play? Holly wanted to do anything he could to prolong them talking about his loneliness that Professor Yngrid planted in their minds. "I…figured since we were watching a movie it wouldn't be too important. I'm sorry."

"Everything in school is important, dear." Liara said to her son. "And learning Shakespeare will make you ten times more culturally fluent. There's nothing better than a wonderfully performed play…"

"True," Shepard said, "Unless it's 'Elcor presents: Hamlet', then you can ditch class as long as you want." She said, winking at Holly and making him admit a laugh.

The family exited the building and was met quickly by their bright red vehicle waiting right at the front parking lot. Shepard reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out the keys, which with one click made the roof of the car fly open. Holly took his usual place in the backseat, and fastened his seatbelt tight until the three of them were closed in and Shepard started the car and they lifted into the air.

Now they were alone, Holly feared for the worse. But all he had to do was survive this car ride and he could hightail from the car straight to his bedroom at the top floor of the house, and avoid talking to his parents for the majority of the night. He loved being around his parents, which made what he was going through even more difficult with the fear that they would outcast him as a freak.

To Holly's dismay however, he knew the car ride couldn't go without any conversations. Liara turned her head from the shotgun and looked at Holly, who had his head leaned up against the window watching all the other cars fly by him. "Holly, if there's something you want to tell us, we will understand. We understand it can't be very easy growing up on Thessia, but-"

"No, mom I love Thessia." Holly interrupted, wanting to change the subject incredibly bad. "I just want to worry about my Birthday coming up."

Liara sighed in her seat, "Holly…"

"Oh that's right!" Shepard said excitedly, "Your party is this Saturday, bud. That should be pretty fun. Say Liara, has anybody recently RSVP'd?"

Liara queued up her orange shimmering omni-tool in her arm and started to pull up a data pad from inside. Holly couldn't see what it said with so many words and numbers flowing down so quickly. He always though omni-tools looked cool, but he hadn't been old enough to receive one yet. Liara read off the list, "Let's see… as of today we've gotten replies from Miranda, Kaiden and Grunt all with a yes. Besides that, most of the list has replied pending Admiral Hackett and Samara."

"Oh, I wouldn't count on Samara replying too soon." Shepard laughed, "She usually comes to these kind of events but never tells anybody. As for Hackett-"

Holly sighed, "Mom, really? Hackett? At my birthday party…?"

Liara turned her head back to Holly and grinned, "Sweetie you know Admiral Hackett is a close family friend of ours. Your mother and I-"

Holly knew his mom was going to go into a story of how Hackett saved their lives, so he just nodded to avoid conflict and said to her "Ok, I understand." Holly was very close to a lot of his parent's old squad mates, but many of them were intimidating to approach (mostly the Krogans, Holly was especially afraid of making one of them angry). Though Holly didn't have much of any friends growing up, he was happy with the turn out for his Birthday.

But Holly had to ask while they were on the subject, "Mom, Uncle Garrus is coming, right?"

Shepard laughed, and a grin went across her face. "Oh of course he is. In fact he was the first one to return to return the email."

An excited smile emerged from Holly's dull mood. It was the best news he had heard all day. Garrus was always one of those few close relatives of his that always came to the major events in his life all the way from Palaven. The other being his Aunt Jack, who was teaching at a biotic academy far off in another nebula. They were there for all of his birthday parties, his primary school graduation, and every single one of this piano recitals he had twice a year. Holly knew they always had his back.

"I think Garrus even said he was going to come down Friday night." Liara grinned, "He said he was going to pick you up after school and the two of you can spend the day together."

"Really?!" Holly shouted with energy. "Wow! That's a birthday gift on its own!"

His parents both laughed and looked at each other with smiles. Holly was happy to have something to look forward to get him through the rest of the week. He hadn't seen Garrus in almost a year since he had been so busy with his own family on Palaven. At that point all of his problems just lifted off of his shoulders.

The car ride came to stop, and Shepard parked the vehicle in front of their house. Holly's home was one of the nicest on Thessia, mostly thanks to his parents. The building was coated with fine Asari craftwork, built out of strong yellow steel and brick. It was a giant three stories tall, with a giant tower-like bedroom a hair over the roof like a chimney. That was Holly's bedroom, and the place he was planning on bolting too.

Holly walked to the house door which recognized his DNA and opened the doors to allow him inside. He instinctively went straight for his personal elevator down the long hallway that led to his bedroom. Walking inside, he lifted straight into the air in mere seconds. His room was normal sized, nothing too extravagant—the only thing added for Holly's specific needs was a grand piano that rested on a raised area by the window. Sometimes, at night, Holly just liked to sit and play music while watching the stars.

But what excited Holly most at that time was plopping down on his bed straight away and reading the latest issue of "Turian Men Weekly" that just published its routine Monday issue. He sat down on his king sized bed and opened up the data-pad he purchased with his allowance weeks ago hidden under his pillow. It was his prized possession, along with subscription to his guilty pleasure magazine (under the alias "Shelby Smith", as Holly Shepard was too obvious.)

Holly flipped open the latest magazine instantly. The first thing he saw was the handsome Turian celebrity Jango Varen in a black tuxedo, posing with the same jaw-dropping face Holly had seen so many times. He was pleased to see him back on the cover of this week's issue, the last week's issue was an anniversary of Saren Arterius's defeat by his mother.

Holly rushed through the pages of the magazine with delight on every page. The magazine wasn't anything dirty or rude, it was all classy and sophisticated Turian men posing in the latest men's fashion. The only dirty issue was in a few weeks—the  _summer_ fashion edition. He flipped pages on the data pad with his finger, reading articles and interviews with people in the Turian fashion industry, the latest movie stars, and even more exciting were the recent couples emerging in the Turian media. Holly was probably the only person on Thessia who subscribed to this magazine and paid attention to the news on Palaven.

Holly would do anything to meet his idols from the magazine in real life. ESPECIALLY Jango Varen—the hottest actor on the planet. What amazed Holly so much about him was his kindness. In all of the interviews he's read of him promoting his movies, not one hasn't passed Holly's mind as pure intellectual poetry. All the ladies on Palaven went nuts for him and so did Holly, the teenage boy living far away on Thessia.

Jango had tons of photos scattered around the magazine. He was promoting his new movie "Starlights", a motion picture about a militia of Turian soldiers who crash landed on earth in the Gobi desert during the First Contact War. Holly had been saving money for  _weeks_ so he could go see the movie in theatres before it went away. He had never seen a Jango Varen movie on the big screen before.

Suddenly, Holly hear the elevator to his bedroom start to go back down, which meant one of his parents was coming up. He hastily shut off his data pad and shoved it back under his pillow, and laid down flat on his bed looking at the ceiling trying to act natural.

The Elevator came up in mere seconds, and Holly's mother Liara walked into his room with a plate in her hand. She had her apron on, which meant she had just made some dinner and was bringing to Holly so he didn't have to come down. "Holly, I made you some Macaroni and Cheese with cut up hot dogs—your favorite."

Holly sat up and grinned at his mother, who sat down on the bed next to him and put the meal by his side. Holly could tell that she wanted to tell him something by the concerned look in her eye. He put his arms around his legs and looked at her nervously, waiting for her to say something. "Honey, I can sense that something is troubling you. I may not be a human but I am still your mother."

"Nothing is bothering me, mom." He answered her quietly.

"Right, you say that, but I know it just isn't true." Liara said, standing up and crossing her arms. She looked over Holly with a very unimpressed face. "I don't think it's fair to jump to conclusions, but I have to ask, is there a  _real_ reason that you left the movie today? Did something in the film…bother you?"

Holly shook his head rapidly. "No mom, I already told you I just figured it wasn't very important to watch. And I apologized…"

"I know you did, sweetie. And I forgive you." She said tenderly, sitting back down and putting her arms around Holly, giving him a sweet comforting hug. "It's just I worry that…recently you've started to may have…  _feelings_. And you should know that it's a perfectly natural thing-"

"W-What?" Holly exclaimed, turning away slightly. He didn't want this conversation to go on, he just couldn't tell his mother how he really felt as much as it pained him.

Liara sighed, "You're at the age where you might start to have… attractions to other students in your class. And that's ok, you shouldn't be ashamed of that. It is a perfectly natural thing, you spend a part of your life trying to find the one person that makes you happy and when you do… it just  _clicks_ , like a chain to a bicycle. And who knows, maybe it'll be one of the cute girls in your class?"

Holly just wanted to throw up thinking about the snot nosed and rude Asari teenagers in his class. He didn't want to have anything to do with them. He was often made fun of in class for being shy or not having any friends, and the last thing he wanted to do was get in a  _relationship_ with them. "No, mom…I don't want any of that. I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me so much. I promise."

There was no response at first. Liara rubbed Holly's brown hair and touched his face. She leaned in and gave him a loving peck on the check and stood up from the bed and pushed the hot plate of macaroni and cheese towards Holly. "Good night, sweetie." She said warmly, cueing the elevator to take her back down to the first floor.

It pained Holly to have to hide something from her parents. But right now he knew it just wasn't the right time. Holly took a bite of his meal, and almost started to cry thinking about how worried he was making his parents just because he was too afraid to tell them how he felt. He didn't want to see them hurt, they had done so much for him in his life that he couldn't bear to hurt them. But he feared that if he told them anytime soon, he would hurt them even more than they did 


	2. Best Day Ever

It was after school on Friday. Holly had been waiting all week in eager anticipation of today ever since his parents told him about it. With his birthday tomorrow, Holly's uncle Garrus was coming down a day early like he always hid. And every time Garrus came down, he would pick Holly up after school and they would spend the day together. It was the best part of his birthday every year.

Holly had fond memories bonding with uncle Garrus. While not technically his Uncle, Holly's closeness to him exceeded uncle and he practically considered him a father. Some of his earliest memories were Garrus coming over regularly to babysit when his parents were away for days at a time (a famous military couple adopting a child was apparently a big deal). For as long he could remember, Garrus was always around. He could tell him anything.

Everything except his secret affliction with Turians. Even though he knew Garrus would understand, Holly couldn't bring himself to tell him. What if he told his parents? What if he brought shame to the family name? Holly couldn't risk these things. Even if Garrus would be most understanding out of his entire family, once it had escaped his mouth, there was no going back.

The lesson that day by Professor Yngrid was another uninteresting lecture about the Asari's discovery of the Mass Relay system. Holly was grateful the conversation never led to the professor asking Holly anything about his parents' plight just a few decades ago. It's not like knew anything anyway.

But none of that mattered, because as soon as class was dismissed, Holly rushed out of the door as fast as his feet could take him. If he got out at the right time, he could see the faces of all his classmates when Garrus pulled up to the school in his expensive, custom made vehicle. Nothing could rain on his mood. If a reaper suddenly came towering down from the Sky, his mood was well enough he could still hum a merry tune.

Once he bursted out of the school doors, he saw Garrus' blue and silver car hovering right there on the driveway. With the windows tinted black he couldn't see Garrus yet, but he clutched his book bag with one hand and waved excitedly at the vehicle anyway to catch his attention.

The door flew up and there he was, in a casual green outfit wearing black tinted sunglasses. He looked so classy; the sun was shining in the just right spot and the grin on his face when he saw Holly turned his skin a lighter shade of grey. His classmates looked dazzled as always. This was the only time of year where Holly had a single ounce of popularity.

Garrus took off his sunglasses and grinned, "Hey, how's it going champ?"

"Hey!" Holly said with joy, leaping into the passenger seat.

Garrus took his hand and lightly scratched the top of Holly's head. "It's been a while…I think last Christmas? Was that when I saw you?"

Holly pondered, "Yeah, I think so. Dang, I can't believe it's been that long."

"We sure have a lot to catch up on then!" Garrus smiled, putting the car into drive and taking off.

Holly was so excited. Ever since his parents told him Garrus was coming down early for his birthday, this was all he could think about. He couldn't wait to see what they were going to do. The last time they spent the day together, Garrus took Holly to an expensive arcade downtown and used his veteran privileges to get unlimited tokens. He would be happy to go again, but knowing Garrus, you never knew what was in store.

"So how's it going?" Garrus asked while driving, "The months have just flown by… Oh, how did that science project I helped you with go?"

Garrus was referring to a few months ago when Holly entered the science fair with a lousy attempt at explaining planetary rings. "I'm at a school that's 99% Asari; I didn't really stand a chance."

"Well I thought it was pretty good." Garrus replied bluntly.

Holly shook his head in disbelief. The Asari in his school always took the academic credit. It was just in their nature. "Compared to my classmates, I should be in all remedial classes."

"Well enough about stupid old school, I still haven't told you where we're going."

Holly looked out the passenger window, the car was roaming past huge buildings and hundreds of other cars trying going the opposite direction, but Holly couldn't tell where they were headed. "Tell me, the anticipation is killing me!"

"Well, last time I saw you, you mentioned you were a big fan of an actor by the name of…" Garrus paused for dramatic effect, "…Jango Varen?"

Holly made the most exasperated gasp he'd ever made in his life. "NO WAY!"

"Yes way!"

"You can't be…We're going to see  _Starlights_?!"

"You betcha, kiddo."

"OH MY GOD! Uncle Garrus you're the best—THANK YOU THANK YOU!-"

Holly reached across the car and hugged Garrus so tight the car made a small swerve. He was so happy. He'd been hoping he could see the movie ever since the previews were first shown, but his monthly allowance was only enough to pay for the issues of Turian Men Weekly. This was best birthday present he could ever ask for.

"I had a feeling you'd be excited." Garrus giggled. Holly let go of his waist and returned to his seat. He wanted to do a small happy dance right there in the car, but he kept his composure as best he could.

"I can't wait—I heard this movie is getting amazing reviews. It's going to be Jango's best film yet."

"I always thought he could play  _me_ pretty well if they ever wanted to make a movie about…you know…" Garrus boasting jokingly.

The car ride flew by like lightning. Holly was having so much fun shooting the breeze and talking about movies with Garrus that the 30 minute car ride felt like 2 seconds. Garrus was always great to talk to, about anything from calibrations to movies and TV. Nothing was going to knock Holly down today. These were the days Holly lived for.

They eventually pulled up to the giant cinema. Holly had never been this far downtown; when he saw the size of the enormous multiplex lit up with shimmering purple neon lights, he almost fainted. There were three stories that stretched all the way up to a giant holo-billboard with movie posters cycling every couple seconds. Holly waited until he saw the trailer for  _Starlights_ : Jango Varen and three of his co-stars were looking towards the blackened night sky from their tent in the lonely Gobi desert.

Holly couldn't take his eyes off of Jango. He didn't know how he was going to keep is attention focused on the movie when all he could think about was when he was going to take his shirt off. Best of all, this was the first Jango movie he'll see on the big screen. He wouldn't have to wait three months for the movie to be released on holochip.

Garrus shut the car and looked up at the screen with Holly for a moment. "Ready to go? Show starts in 20 minutes."

Holly snapped out of his perpetual stare and nodded rapidly. They hustled towards the building. Holly followed Garrus to the receptionist next to the door to buy the tickets. Holly couldn't believe it—it was actually happening.

"Two tickets for  _Starlight_  please. I believe that's playing in your ultra-surround -sound room?" Garrus said slickly to the Asari receptionist behind the glass.

"Oh sir, I'm afraid that theatre is reserved for exclusive V.I.P. parties. It is one of the best critically acclaimed theatres in the galaxy…I'm sure you understand." They replied, almost like they were bragging.

"Aah, of course." Garrus nodded in return. "And is it being rented today?"

"Well no, but—"

Garrus reached into his pocket and took out his wallet, which inside was his very fancy Citadel driver's license. Holly had seen it before; it was crafted with a metallic finish with a large gold Normandy logo imprinted behind Garrus' face. Upon showing it to the receptionist, Garrus boasted, "Garrus Vakarian, squad member of the Normandy SR2. I'd like to book that theatre, please."

The Asari behind the glass's eyes widened so large it looked like they might pop out. "Oh…Oh Mr. Vakarian I do apologize I-I should have recognized you—"

"Not a problem at all." Garrus said warmly. "Veteran discount also, if you don't mind."

Garrus purchased the tickets and the Asari bowed their head obediently, "I will alert the manager of your arrival, sir. Please enjoy our free complimentary concessions, and take your time. The film will begin whenever you and your party arrive at the theatre."

Garrus thanked the receptionist and they raced off. Holly had the best uncle in the entire Galaxy, and he wasn't even his real uncle. He only wished his classmates from Vista Academy could have seen  _that_.

The inside of the building was even better. The smell of popcorn wafted through the air and filled Holly's nostrils the second he entered the building. He didn't think the Asari were so pleased with Earth's customs. The carpet and wallpaper was silk red, and dozens of movie posters were hanging everywhere. This couldn't be what every movie theater looked like—this place was top notch.

Garrus was already heading towards the popcorn stand, where an Asari wearing a red and white striped suit and black tie was standing, churning the huge collection of popcorn visible through clear glass. Garrus said calmly to the clerk, "You uh…have Turian food right?"

"Of course, Mr. Vakarian." They replied, "Our dextro generated popcorn is very popular among tourists."

"Great!" He smiled, "One of those then—large. And a nice bar of Turian chocolate. Then for my nephew here…one large popcorn, two galaxy bars and the biggest chili dog you have."

Holly's mouth watered at thought of chili dogs. That's been his favorite food since his was 3 years old. It always reminded him of the time Garrus took him to a baseball game back on Earth when his parents were at a charity event.

The Asari filled out Garrus' order with quickness and precision. Two large metal containers of popcorn, delicious basket greased in oil with a chili dog the size of Holly's arm and three chocolate bars at the end. Garrus was seriously spoiling him, but Holly loved it.

"So how do we get to the theatre?" Holly asked Garrus after piling the food in his arms.

"Oh please, allow me to carry that for you—"The Asari behind the counter said, hastily walking from behind the counter and taking all the food in their hand. "Allow me to show you to our V.I.P. elevator, which leads straight up to the top floor and into your theatre."

Holly couldn't believe this place. But even more, he couldn't believe Garrus did all of this just for him. It just reassured him how lucky he was to call Garrus family.

Garrus and Holly were led by the clerk to an elevator that was secluded in a corner away from the rest. The doors had a large yellow star on it that red "V.I.P ONLY." The clerk, with the food in hand, placed their hand onto the reading pad to unlock the door.

Once they were led up, Holly was perplexed again by the amount by the size of the theatre. There were a plethora of seats, stretched ways across the room and even extended to a balcony. And the screen—the size was so large Holly thought his brain was playing tricks on him. He couldn't believe Garrus rented out this  _entire theatre_.

"Oh…my…"

Garrus smiled and put his arm around Holly. "Happy Birthday, kiddo."

"May I refer you to the best seats in the house?" The clerk offered.

"All of them look  _amazing…_ " Holly stuttered.

The Asari giggled, "Yeah, this is where Asari debut a lot of their own films. You better hope you aren't working on  _those nights_ , Haha."

Holly followed the clerk to the direct middle of the theatre, where they sat down comfortably. Garrus thanked the Asari and granted a generous tip.

The time was finally here. Holly was sitting in the empty movie theatre with Garrus in front of a screen the size of a spaceship. He was actually about to see  _Starlights_. The excitement was circling through his blood stream and making him want to jump up and down in his seat. Holly took a comfortable position leaning up against Garrus' shoulder, and the movie was cued to begin.

Just as expected, Jango Varen's new film was better than he could have imagined. Following the story of 5 Turian soldiers crash landing on Earth in the middle of the Gobi desert, Jango's acting and the way he got into the mind of his character impressed him like never before. There were moments in the film where Holly found himself on the edge of tears, but the pacing of the film always kept him at the just the right balance of emotion and action.

Garrus seemed to be enjoying the movie as well. Neither of them had even touched their popcorn, Holly stuffed down most of his chili dog during the trailers because he knew he wouldn't have been able to concentrate on an empty stomach. But by the time the lights in the theatre had turned back on, Holly and Garrus both consensually agreed that the film was absolutely breathtaking.

Garrus was the first to get up, reaching his arms to his side to stretch out his stuff muscles. "What a movie. Felt like we were really there in that Gobi desert."

"I still can't believe it's over." Holly sighed. "What a great actor. I guess it's only a matter of time before his next film."

Garrus smiled, and the two left the theatre carrying two full containers of popcorn (which was fine with Holly; more snacks for his birthday party tomorrow). On the walk out, they talked about all the cool scenes and effects they had just seen. Holly went on and on about Jango's past movies and how impressed he was with his change of pace and incredible improvement on his acting. He couldn't stop talking about it, he was just such a huge fan he couldn't contain himself.

"—And then in his second film he was nominated for a citadel academy award but lost to that Salarian woman—oh and I couldn't  _believe_ that scene where the militia captain ate sand out of his helmet—oh and you CAN'T forget when Jango used his omni tool perform emergency surgery—

Garrus nodded, "uh huh, uh huh…"

"—And what about  _ending monologue?!_ I swear if he didn't make out alive I would have cried—"

When they approached the car, Garrus had to interrupt his fan-attack to get a few words in, "I'm glad you enjoyed the movie. My birthday present to you, kiddo."

"Thank you so much, I feel like I'm going to remember this day for rest of my life!" Holly grinned, hoping into the car with a spring in his step. Nothing was going to pull him down from this joy ride.

Garrus started the car and the two departed the cinema on route to Holly's house. , "You're the first kid I've seen to be such a fan of Turian films. Probably from hanging out with your Uncle Garrus so much, eh?"

Holly smiled back at him, but his mind was so energized he couldn't contain himself. "—Jango really outdid himself in that role he  _has_ to get the citadel film festival award this year."

"I hope so too. A Turian hasn't won one of those since Dorus Edenburg won for playing the tin man on that that 'intergalactic edition' of The Wizard of Oz…"

Holly nodded rapidly, his attention span jumping all over the place. "Jango deserves it! I couldn't believe that last line, 'war never changes', that's going down in history for sure! Oh man… all those interviews I read in TMW made seeing the movie 10 times better—"

Garrus double-took, "TMW?"

Holly's tongue stopped in midsentence. He replayed what he just said in his head, and within an instant he felt his throat fall into his stomach. "Oh, I mean…"

"That's a Turian magazine from Palaven isn't it?" Garrus inquired, his eyes casually locked on the road. "How'd you manage to get your hands on that?"

Holly panicked. He didn't know what to say, he couldn't tell Garrus he had a subscription to Turian Men Weekly or else he'd tell his parents what he was spending his allowance on. In an instant, he said the first thing that popped into his head, "Oh, well, I didn't read _…—_ I mean I didn't  _buy_ it I just…I glanced at the pages with—"

"Oh, alright." Garrus said. The tone of his voice had changed, it now sounded concerning. It was the tone he used whenever he was unsure about something. "That magazine sure has a great suit collection."

Holly couldn't believe his hyperactive mouth just got him into this mess. How could have been so  _stupid_  and blather about something like that? Holly had to think of a way out of the conversation and fast. "So..um…who all is coming to the party tomorrow?"

Garrus didn't respond to his question. Holly knew he was sunk. Garrus was the smartest person he knew, he had to have caught on. Holly had blown it. The anxiety began to sweep through his head like a painful migraine. Garrus had to know Holly's secret at this point, after his pathetic attempts at hiding it failed.

There were a few seconds of pause, and Garrus asked very lovingly, "You know Holly, your parents told me there's been some stuff going on at school. Do you want to tell me about it? You know you can tell me anything."

"Oh, n-no…my parents were overreacting over something else that happened. It's nothing, really—"

Garrus sighed, "Holly…"

Holly's skin almost went cold when he felt the hovercar being to drift off to the side of the road and enter park. Garrus had pulled over and turned his head to give Holly his full attention. "Holly…I need you to know that I love you like my own kid. I think I know what's going on…"

Holly shook his head in a panic, "No, I swear whatever my parents told you is really  _not_ the case. Trust me Garrus, I…I really am not—"

"—Attracted to Asari. Right?"

Holly felt face flush with panic and embarrassment. All he could think about was what his parents would think, but he knew he couldn't hide it from Garrus any longer. "…Right…"

Garrus took Holly's hand supportively. Holly looked into his concerned blue eyes and felt emotions begin to overcome him. Garrus said softly, "I think I've known for a while. The movies, the magazines, a few hints picked up over the years. I knew I had to wait until you were ready, but I'm worried…"

Tears started to stream from Holly's eyes, "I…I wanted to tell you I just…Garrus, I'm a freak. I'm dictionary definition of  _freak._ What's everybody going to think of me…? "

Holly's tears turned into a full, emotional sob. He clutched his hands to his eyes and tasted the salty tears as they streamed down the corners of his mouth. His breathing was short. All he could think about was how much of an abomination he was—a freak of nature who wasn't even attracted to his own species. And not even a species of the opposite sex. He was just a gay, mentally disturbed freak.

Garrus reached swiftly into his glove compartment and took out some tissues for Holly to use. "Aww, champ…Holly…nobody thinks you're a freak. We love you.  _I_ love you. We're your family."

Holly blew his running nose a tissue and wiped some dried out tears from his cheek, but the tears just kept flowing. "I feel like such an outsider…I live on a planet filled with these  _alien women_  and I don't even  _like_ any of them. I'm so alone here. There aren't any Turians…there aren't even hardly any  _humans_! And…And I don't even like the girls…"

Holly knew he could tell Garrus what he was feeling without being judged, but all the tears were flowing on account of his own self-image. He couldn't dismiss the thought that he was a distressed, mentally ill abomination.

"Holly, I've seen  _so many_  people out there that are just like you. You aren't alone. You just…happen to be living somewhere that isn't very relatable." Garrus said, he was now rubbing Holly's shoulder affectionately which made Holly feel a little better.

"Every time I walk down those halls, there are at least 10 couples I pass by that are holding hands or kissing. It's so hard to watch, because I know my chance at love is so far away. And I can't tell anybody how I'm feeling because nobody will understand…I don't know anybody like me…" Holly sobbed, constantly wiping his eyes with tissue paper.

"Oh, let me tell you, you'd be pleasantly surprised. The galaxy is a very diverse place, Holly. Love can be found in the most unexpected places. Look at your parents, even."

The mention of his parents made Holly's insides churn "I don't know how I'm going to tell my parents…"

Garrus laughed with a loving smile, "Holly, your parents aren't exactly cookie-cutter lovers themselves, you know. I know they'd understand if you told them."

"Do you think so?"

"I  _know_ so." Garrus replied. "But you know you don't have to tell them right away. It's whenever  _you're ready_. I can even tell them with you."

The thought of having some emotional support from Garrus in such a stressful situation was the best feeling Holly could imagine. "I would like that. A lot."

"I'll be with you whenever you're ready."

Tears kept streaming from Holly's eyes uncontrollably, "I felt like I've let them down. I've let down  _everybody_. People are always so fascinated with 'Commander Shepard's adopted child', when people find out I'm…I'm  _this_ …what are they going to say? People will laugh at my moms…I don't know how to deal with that."

Garrus' concerned stare remained constant through all of Holly's crying. Looking up, he saw the worrisome expression and felt his hand lovingly stroking Holly's shoulder. "I don't care who you love, Holly. You could grow up and love a…a  _pineapple_  for all I care. What I care about is  _you_. Forget what anybody else thinks."

"I'm so scared, Garrus…I'm—I'm frightened…" Holly collapsed his face into the palm of his hands and cried, shivering with only the touch of Garrus' three things making him feel a bit at ease.

"If anybody tries to mess you with you, you just send them to Uncle Garrus and he'll set things straight. Nobody messes with  _my_ nephew and gets away with it."

Holly giggled, which helped the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness evaporate slightly. Holly knew Garrus accepted him unconditionally, he just felt so distraught about the whole thing he didn't know where to start.

Holly leaned forward and buried himself in Garrus' chest. Garrus wrapped his arms around Holly and rubbed his back. Holly whispered to him, "I was so scared…I thought that when you found out, you would be freaked out and never talk to me again…"

"Never." Garrus said, embracing Holly as he cried deeply into his chest.

Holly felt so safe now letting all his emotions out with Garrus. This was a moment he's needed for quite a long time, and the painful build up to this waterfall of tears was something Holly knew needed to happen. He was just happy now that he was able to have Garrus with him.

"You know I love you, kiddo." Garrus said, rubbing the back of Holly's head.

"I love you too. T-Thank you for…letting me cry all over your car." Holly said with a joking giggle.

"Anytime, Anytime."

Holly lifted out of their long hug and wiped the tears from his eyes. They had finally stopped, and now Holly could finally breathe. Garrus kept massaging Holly's shoulder for a few more minutes until he gave the signal that he was going to be okay.

Garrus scratched Holly's head and turned the car back to ignition. Holly didn't expect the day to turn into such an emotional episode. His emotions today were like the light speed roller coasters at the city fair. But even after the fact, Holly felt like a giant weight was lifted from his shoulder. And he knew, without a hint of doubt, today was one of the best days ever.


	3. Birthday

Garrus dropped Holly off at his house just before dinner. It was sad saying goodbye to Garrus, even though he was going to see him tomorrow, it still made him sad to see him drive away to his grand hotel. Holly wished Garrus could stay at their house, or he could stay with him at the hotel, but his parents wanted Holly there to help for the party and Garrus wanted a little vacation to himself. Which was understandable.

They both exchanged one final hug before he gave Holly thumbs up and told him that he'd see him tomorrow at his Birthday Party. Holly was looking forward to it for sure, mostly because of the people there, but he was also absolutely dreading it…because of the people. It was a mixed crowd. Some of them Holly was very close to, but others he was petrified of.

Holly walked into his house through the eye-recognition doors, into his living. Normally your standard Thessia home, but this time it was filled to the ceiling with party decorations. Streamers were hanging from across the wall, and electronic unpopable balloons were tied to lamps and the coffee table down near the wet bar. Holly's birthday was tomorrow—why were his parents already decorating?

"Hello…?" Holly stuttered as he walked into his house.

"Oh, Holly!" Liara said from a latter across the room, standing on the top of a latter. "Welcome home sweetie! Did you have a good time with Garrus?"

"Yeah, Mom…I…"

"Hold on I can't hear you!"

Liara climbed off the latter and brushed herself off from all the dust she had awakened in the corner of the ceiling. Holly's mother was always the cleanly type. She walked across the glossy floors to Holly and clapped her hands together, "Right then. How was Garrus, dear?"

"It was great. He took me to see  _Starlights_." Holly replied in a slightly better tone.

"Did he?" Liara gasped, obviously pretending to act surprised. "Well you'll have to tell us all about it over dinner. It's been ready for a few minutes, should still be warm."

"Where's mom?" Holly asked.

"Oh, right…She's in the office. Why don't you go fetch her?"

Holly nodded and proceeded to throw his schoolbag on the couch before going across the house to his parents' shared office. His house was a larger than the average sized house—a little bigger than their summer home on the Citadel. Holly had to walk across a large hallway that connected to several extra rooms, and the office was on the right at the very end of the hall.

Shepard was sitting on her side of the crescent shaped desk fiddling with her large screen computer. Words were going by so fast Holly couldn't keep up, nor did he even try. "Hey mom. Dinner is ready."

Shepard turned around on her office chair. She was very asphyxiated on the screen. "Oh, hey champ. Just looking over the RSVPs."

Holly was afraid to ask exactly who was coming, so he just saved it for a surprise. "That's good. So um…dinner is—"

"I know, I know, your mother keeps coming in here to tell me. I'll be there in a sec, help your mother set the table and I'll finish up here."

Holly rolled his eyes and marched back into the kitchen. His parents did this pretty often, using him as a messenger until dinner time or something was playing on TV. They were all over the place, sometimes Liara would be in the living room reading while Shepard was in the garage working on the hovercraft. They spent a lot of time apart during the day, but when they came together it was like they'd never been apart at all.

When the table was set and both parents had sat down to eat, Holly was asked all about his day with Garrus at the movie theatre and what he thought about the movie. He was fortunate to have parents who did generally care about what happened in his day, but Holly would never enlighten them with his obsession with Jango Varen like he did with Garrus. He knew his parents would catch on if he did.

Liara had made a large Mexican pizza with a side of fried rice. It was one of Holly's favorites. It went without being said that he would have his favorite foods around his birthday, and he didn't even have to ask. Even though his mother Liara could hardly stand the taste of Mexican food, she always held it down for Holly, and cooked it better than any restaurant could.

A few minutes of silence after Holly had told them all about his day, the small talk began.

"So, Shepard," Liara asked her wife, "Who's coming to the party?"

"Pretty much everybody. It's going to be a pretty large turnout. Oh, Grunt wanted me to ask if you could have a large pan he could use because he…wanted to roast a chicken…"

Liara's eyebrows arched, "Oh…okay? Tell him…there are plenty of pans…"

Holly laughed and kept devouring his slice of pizza.

Liara put her fork down and looked across the table, "Holly, is there…anyone from school you want to invite tomorrow?"

Holly just scoffed. "That's a funny joke, mom."

"No I mean it," she continued, now her tone was that of caring and concern. Holly felt so embarrassed. "There has to be at least  _one_ nice little Asari girl at that academy."

Holly looked down in shame and shook his head.

"Not a single one?"

"No, mom. Not a single one."

He didn't look up, but he knew his parents were probably looking at each other with shared concern. They did that a lot.

Shepard put in her two cents, "Well who cares anyway, your party is gonna have cooler people there anyway. Nobody at your school can say a  _Krogan_ is coming to your party.  _Two_ in fact…"

"I appreciate it you guys wanting to help, but you really don't need to, I promise." Holly said. He thought of his conversation with Garrus and smiled very sincerely, "I'm happy."

His parents smiled back at him.

That next morning, Holly slept in way more than he usually did. He usually got up at 10 to catch his favorite Turian soap opera (which he was borderline addicted to), but he wasn't feeling up to it today. He had flashback dreams that night of his emotional talk with Garrus in the car. In his dreams the tears were flowing just as they did in that moment, like it was happening all over again. He felt like he needed a little extra rest. Holly often had dreams he was crying, but every morning when he got up his face was completely dry. It happened a lot.

When he came into consciousness, Holly was surprised to hear that some of the guests had already arrived. Commotion was already starting downstairs. The sound reverberated through the walls up the spiral staircase next to the elevator so he could make out most of what was being said. By his imagination, his parents had gotten up early to cook all the food and finish up the decorations. They did that last year. He could also hear the murmuring of a few guests that had already arrived; it was like the party had already begun without him. Still lying in bed, Holly eavesdropped on a little bit of the conversation:

"—and I just thought with him being 15 and all, I would make a nice roast chicken." Holly assumed by his quirkiness that it was Grunt speaking, "I've been practicing and I think I've gotten it just right."

"That's what you said about your 'Ham' during our Christmas potluck." Said a foreign human voice. It was Miranda.

"I swear this one is better! You're all gonna love it, you'll see."

"I 'got more pizza on speed dial just in case." Laughed Shepard.

The casual conversation continued. Holly also heard a very hackling cough underneath all the chatter, which Holly knew was the elderly grovel of Mr. Hackett. It made Holly  _really_ want to stay in his room all day.

The guests kept chatting away about things Holly weren't concerned about, like military situations around the Galaxy and James going on and on about his new girlfriend he forgot to bring to the party (and Holly was relieved beyond belief). Both his moms were helping out Grunt in the kitchen, and also discussing meal plans with each other under James and Miranda's bickering.

"—Is Holly still sleeping? It's past noon. The rest of the guests are going to be here at 12:30." Miranda asked.

"Aww, leave him alone, Miranda." Echoed a Turian voice. A smiled graced Holly's fact when he realized Garrus was down there. "It's his birthday; he can get up whenever he wants."

Holly ignored the rest of the mumble and immediately jumped out of bed. Garrus was there, so he wasn't going to wait anymore. He didn't even walk to his en-suite bathroom to wash the sleep from his eyes, he just brushed his hair with his fingers a few times and called the elevator up to his room.

"—Speak of the devil and he appears. " James joked when Holly hit the button.

The elevator jumped quickly to the top of Holly's mini-tower and he went on it promptly. He was still wearing his purple pajama bottoms with a long sleeved shirt, but he didn't really care. His parents were going to send him back up to change anyway, he just wanted to say hello to Garrus mainly.

The doors opened and the smell of oddly marinated chicken and pepperoni pizza wafted into his nose. The room was even more decorated than it was when he went to bed, more balloons floating and there were pink and yellow streamers in pretty much every corner of the room. His parents went all out. Next to the couch was a recently set up table that had quite a few presents on it, Holly didn't look too long so he didn't look too eager (even though he was, naturally). All eyes in the room changed to him, and there were quite a few.

"Holly! Good morning; happy birthday!" Miranda was the first to say, walking towards Holly and giving him a hug. Holly didn't get to see Miranda that often, but he did like her a lot.

"Thanks" He smiled. "Is this all the people…?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"The rest should be here soon." Liara said, "Happy Birthday sweetheart!"

"Happy Birthday!" Shepard and Grunt both said in sync.

Holly walked promptly over to Garrus and gave him a hug, per usual. Things were always tolerable with Garrus around, even with Hackett silently judging in the corner of the room. He wished Holly and happy birthday, and Holly sweetly told him he was glad that he was there.

"'Eyyy, where your hug for Uncle James?" James exclaimed, putting his arms out for his little nephew.

Holly went from Garrus' arms to James. He had nice memories of the off occasion James took him out like Garrus did, but James was always a little too masculine and 'chick oriented' than Holly could take long amounts of. Usually on their trips he would point out girls he found hot on the street and Holly would have to muster up some sort of laugh to change the subject.

Holly gave a polite nod to Hackett, who was sitting on the couch by the window with his arms crossed. He returned with a grin, but that was about it. Truth be told, Hackett terrified Holly a little.

"HOLLY!" Grunt yelled across the kitchen, "YOU LIKE CHICKEN?!"

Liara was startled, "Grunt! Please! No need to yell…"

"Oh, sorry…"

Holly gave grunt a satisfying thumbs up to calm his nerves. Grunt gave him one in return, with the largest Krogan smile he'd ever seen.

Liara dusted some chocolate cake batter off of her apron and walked out from behind the counter to catch her breath. "Holly, the guests are going to be here in a second, why don't you change out of your pajamas?"

Holly knew that was coming. "Alright, mom."

Holly looked at Garrus as he walked to the elevator and was met with a supportive wink. Holly knew that Garrus was only going to be there for a short time…if he was going to come out to his parents, he had to do it that day at the least. Garrus was probably going home tomorrow. It made Holly's intestines churn thinking about it, but it had to happen.

Up in his room, Holly continued to fight with himself in his head over what he was going to do. What would he say? How would he say it? 'Guys, I'm gay'? 'Guys, I'm Xeno'? 'Guys, I'm a flaming homo alien lover'? Would he say it with everybody around? He certainly couldn't say it with  _Hackett_ around…

But why was it a big deal anyway? His parents were like him anyway. They married somebody of the same sex and different species. Holly knew this, but it was still troubling. I mean, they were  _Commander Shepard_  and  _Doctor Liara T'Soni_. They saved the galaxy from complete annihilation; they could marry an Elcor for all the galaxy cared. But Holly didn't have that kind of fame, he was just their kid—the baby that was on the front page of a magazine within two days of being born. There had to be expectations. What if people criticized his  _parents_  for making him like this? He was just being himself. A self he really didn't want to be.

Holly took his time changing his clothes and laid back on his bed to relax before the big company haul came in. He looked at his ceiling, the fan spinning around and casting a spiral shadow behind it. He was excited for his birthday, but it was just stressful for him. This birthday was different. Holly didn't feel like he had anything to celebrate.

Then, the doorbell ring. Holly was startled by the ding that ringed up his bedroom tower, and then followed by large onslaught of people. The hellos and laughter filled the whole house and quickly became like white noise. Holly assumed that most of the old squad was there, because they were all talking like old friends.

"—Gonna turn it up like that party on the Citadel, 'ey Shepard?" Holly heard Jack joke.

"Sure, Jack. Just keep it PG."

"—You should have seen the traffic…"

"—Keelah, what is that god awful smell?"

"—Jeff, did you find it necessary to bring a second birthday cake to this event?"

"—Garrus! You haven't changed a bit!"

"—Oh, chill out EDI it's not like he'll say  _no_."

"—Liara! Where do you keep the Vodka?"

It went on like this for some time. The "party" had really started, they had even begun to play some lo-fi ambient music. The only thing missing was Holly, the guest of honor. Large crowds made him really nervous, especially some of the guest who Holly hadn't seen in a really long time.

' _Find Garrus. Find Jack. Hide in a corner'_  Holly kept thinking to himself. ' _Talk to Jack. Talk to Miranda. Hang out with Garrus. Avoid long eye contact with Wrex and Hackett_ '

Eventually Holly realized he needed to go downstairs before one of them went up to fetch him. That was the last thing he wanted. With his clean clothes on and a large gulp, Holly mustered up the courage to go downstairs and face the giant crowd. Hopefully they didn't all make it a big deal—

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Everybody who hadn't settled into a comfortable spot on the couch walked over to Holly for hugs and pats on the shoulder. Holly hugged Jack, who he was fairly close with, Tali, Kaiden, pretty much everybody who wasn't a little intimidating (Jack had a little soft spot for Holly). Samara, Zaeed and Javik were in a corner being enigmatic as always and Holly just exchanged a smile with them. Samara was nice enough, but Holly always got the impression she was constantly on some sort of mission so he was always afraid to ask.

"How ya been kiddo?!" Jack asked, picking Holly up playfully, "It's been like a year, where the hell ya been?"

"Where have  _you_  been?" Holly giggled. Jack was one of those people he could let lose his silly side. "Where were you at Christmas?"

"Hey whatever, we still have an unfinished game of arm wrestling to finish. You better not have forgotten about that!"

"It's not fair, you always cheat with biotics!"

Jack scoffed and ruffled Holly's hair, "Yeah yeah yeah… Hey Liara,  _where's the god damn vodka?"_

"—WE DON'T HAVE ANY!"

Jack scurried off like she always did at large parties like this. It was in her nature, Holly couldn't blame her. He was just glad to see her, she really hadn't seen her in so long. He knew she would be one of the accepting ones.

"—Hey kid, how ya been?" Kaiden asked, coming up behind Holly and catching him by surprise. They hugged again.

"Hey, Kaiden. How's things back in  _Canada_?" Holly joked.

"Haha, can't complain, can't complain. Happy Birthday, it's good seeing you."

"—Okay, Okay,  _my turn._ " Tali interrupted. She had been waiting patiently for Jack and Kaiden to finish. "Happy Birthday!"

Holly smiled. Everybody was being so nice to him. Holly had forgotten what good people there were amongst this crowd. Who cares if he didn't have friends at school? Holly felt a little more confident in coming out to everybody after being met with so much love.

"Hollyyyyy!" A voice called from across the room. It was Traynor, somebody else Holly was close to. Perhaps one of the only people who Holly knew without a doubt would have no problem with his orientation. He waved at her and smiled, but so many other people were calling for him that it was almost overwhelming.

Holly walked over to the couch where Joker and EDI were sitting, and Holly greeted them. His brittle bone had improved slightly over the years, but Holly didn't expect him to walk over to the elevator like everybody else did. Holly hadn't had much "hanging out" time with Joker, but he'd had some nice phone conversations on past birthdays and he considered him to be fairly close.

In fact, most of these people he considered to be family. Maybe he could do this after all. Garrus was there, Jack was there, everybody seemed to be in a good mood, and it was his  _birthday_ for crying out loud— it was supposed to be about him anyway.

There was a spot on the couch right next to Garrus where Holly took his seat while people conversed and the food was being cooked. The present pile had now tripled in size, really the only thing negative in the air was the smell of Grunt's chicken.

Garrus looked around the room and put both arms over the head of the couch, "Pretty nice turnout."

"I'll say," Holly agreed, "Who  _isn't_ here?"

Garrus paused for a second, "Hmm… Jacob I think? Probably off doing something incredibly serious anyway."

Holly hesitated for a moment, and then very quickly whispered to Garrus when he was sure nobody was listening, "…I'm gonna tell them. Today. After I open presents."

Garrus took his arms back and turned his head to Holly, "Are you sure? I mean…yeah. Go for it, champ. If you feel good about it, go ahead."

"I mean…I have to do it today. I can't tell my parents when I'm alone with them. Everybody is here…they're being so nice, I mean—"

"Hey, I think it's a great idea." Garrus said supportively, putting a hand tight on Holly's shoulder. "I'll be right here. You can do it."

"Thanks." Holly smiled. It was going to happen, right after presents. Right after presents.  _Right after presents_. He couldn't turn back on his word.

"Okay everyone, dinner is ready!" Liara cried out over the chatter. "There's pizza, dextro pizza, some three cheese casserole and… a roasted chicken."

Garrus hoped up quickly, "Gotta get my hands on that dextro before Tali hogs it all…"

Everybody gravitated to the counter where all the food was stationed with plates and utensils. It was like a school cafeteria. Holly was the only one who stayed behind and waited for everybody to get their serving.

"Hey!" James yelped, "Why isn't Holly getting the first plate?"

Holly's eyes widened when everybody turned to the corner of the room where Holly was sitting awkwardly. Very hastily he jumped up and scurried to the front of the food line where everybody kept cheering him on which made him feel really awkward. But he did it anyway.

The food was perfect. Even Grunt's chicken wasn't half bad if you piled it with gravy. The only point of minor silence in the party followed after everybody got their plate and found a place to sit down and eat. Of course, both the Krogans stuffed their food within seconds, so that didn't last very long.

The pizza was from Holly's favorite pizzeria. It was the only one on Thessia that was run by Italian humans, like it was meant to be. His mother's casserole was great as well, filled with cheese and topped with crunchy potato chips. So far, the day had been pretty good. Hopefully it continued that way.

Everybody was pretty stuffed, so before they went to cut the cake, Shepard began to suggest Holly start opening presents. This was it. Right after this, he was going to tell them. Right before they sang Happy Birthday and right after he opened the last gift.

" _What did you get him_?" He heard a few people whisper to each other. The present pile filled the entire glass table. The transparency made it look like they were all floating in midair. Holly was excited, but incredibly nervous at the same time. That, on top of the three cheese casserole, made Holly slightly nauseous.

But he tried to suppress those sad thoughts. It was present time, which was always exciting. He shouldn't be thinking about that, he should be happy. Jack used biotics to very show-offily glide the table across the room to the couch so Holly didn't even have to get up. Everybody found a position around the table, and Shepard had even gotten out her camera to snap Holly's reactions. Garrus was still seated right next to him.

"—Open mine first! It's the most expensive!"

"—No, open mine it's the best one!"

"—Shut up, Joker, you already got him a cake."

"—Would you guys  _all_ shut up so he can open something?"

The crowd settled down and Holly reached the first available present, a square box wrapped in purple wrapping paper.

"That's from me!" Tali waved from behind Shepard. "I can't see!"

Holly ripped the paper open and opened up the cardboard box. Inside, wrapped in tissue paper, was a very small hand flute made out of wood and rocks. It was beautiful, about the size of Holly's hand.

"That's  _hand made_." Tali cried out. "You still play piano, don't you? That shouldn't be that hard."

Holly was astonished—in a good way. It was a great gift. "Wow…look at this thing. It's Quarian isn't it?"

"You bet your thresher maw it is Quarian. The best we have to offer."

"Wait…" Joker said, "How do Quarians play a flute with that mask on?"

"It's a long story."

"Alright, open another one!" Liara said excitedly.

The next gift that caught Holly's eye was a large bag stuffed with tissue paper. It was silver and gold stripped on the outside, and the tag said "To our beloved Holly". Holly picked it up, it was quite heavy, and placed it on his lap.

"Oh, that one is from us!" Liara smiled.

"Happy Birthday, kid." Shepard said.

Holly reached into the bag and pulled out the heavy box that was inside. Holly had no idea what it was that could be that heavy. But when he pulled it out all the way—he was speechless.

"Wow!" Garrus said.

"You lucky little punk!" Joker exclaimed, his mouth gapped wide open.

"—WHAT IS IT? I STLLL CAN'T SEE!"

Holly stuttered, "It's…a computer. The brand new ultra dimensional compressed laptop—this isn't even out yet!"

"Not when you're Commander Shepard." His mother boasted.

"Holy crap…mom, you guys, thank you so much."

Holly loved the gift. He thought about all the things he could do now, he could look up interviews with Jango Varen online, see teaser trailers, join message boards… he was so excited. A huge smile was spilled across his face.

"Nothing's gonna top that." Miranda said from around the table.

"Um, I don't know about  _that_." Jack interrupted, "Why don't you open  _this_ one?"

Jack picked up a bag from behind the mountain of presents and tossed into Holly's lap, which took him by surprise. "Watch and learn, rich parents."

Holly laughed, the size of the gift wasn't that big, but Holly assumed by Jack's history that it was some sort of gag gift. She's done that for a few years. "Is it an arm wrestling guidebook?" He jested.

"Ha! No…but you're close though." Jack couldn't stop laughing, and Holly hadn't even opened the gift yet. She was just waiting for his reaction.

Holly reached into the bag with anticipation. But what he pulled out did not make him laugh. First he felt a box, which Holly recognized by touch was probably some sort of DVD. He pulled it out and looked at the front cover: 'Wet and Tan Gurlz Club'.

Jack started busting out laughing. A few people chuckled with her, but Holly didn't. Not in the least. One the cover of the DVD there were three girls sprawled out on a mattress, covering up each other's privates and exposing their very large, grotesque butts. Holly started at it in disgust.

Liara turned to Jack and horror, "Jack, what in the—"

Jack was next to the table spitting her ribs. "Wait, wait, there's more, keep looking!"

Why did there have to be more? Holly reluctantly reached his hand further into the bag. He knew as soon as he touched it what it was. He pulled it out from the top, and the generic logo "PERSONAL LUBRICANT" was sprawled all the way around the bottle.

Garrus put his hands to his eyes, "Oh, no…"

"Oooh, foxy ladies…" James said bluntly.

Traynor peeked her head over the crowd and made a hissing sound, "Ooh, my, it seems at least one person in this house is getting lucky."

"HAHA! See! There's at least  _one_ thing better than getting a computer, am I right?"

A few people were chuckling slightly, but the horrified look on Holly's face seemed to shut them up pretty quickly (except Jack). Holly put both the items on the table and just starred at them, horrified. This is what people expected of him, wasn't it?

People who couldn't see the DVD all looked over the presents onto the table. For the first time all day, there was silence.

Shepard marched around the table and stood right up to Jack. Holly recognized that face—that was face she made when she confronted one of Holly's elementary school bullies. "Jack, what the  _hell_ is that on the table?"

Jack was still roaring with laughter, "HAHAHAHA! Oh, come on Shepard lighten up, he's 15 years old it's not like he doesn't do that already! Come on, you  _have_ to admit…"

"NO. I don't  _admit_. You can't give my kid  _porn_ for his birthday, Jack!"

Everybody was silent. At this point, Holly was dreadfully fighting back tears. Some people were wanting to comfort him, but most were sitting very awkwardly in their seat with their hands clapped on their forehead, shaking in disbelief.

"She  _would,_ wouldn't she?" Miranda said disgustingly.

Jack hadn't even looked at Holly's face once throughout this entire moment. "Oh, have a sense of humor. Holly, you can't honestly look me in the eye and tell me you didn't…"

A tear had already streamed down Holly's face. He was painfully fighting back the rest. He was shaking his head trying to get it to stop, but he just couldn't. This was his life, this was what people obviously expected of him. He couldn't be angry at Jack for this—he was angry at himself. Any normal teenage boy would have been laughing along with her.

"…Holly?" Jack said. Her tone had completely changed. Everybody was looking back and forth between Jack's hand clapped to her mouth, and Holly's hand trying to stop the tears from dripping into his lap. He felt humiliated.

Garrus was shaking his head, his hand had been rubbing Holly's back as soon as put the DVD on the table. He leaned down and said to him, "Holly, are you okay?"

"Way to go, Jack." Kaiden scolded. People were making their way to Holly and trying to comfort him by taking his hand and trying to cheer him up, but it wasn't working. This wasn't the attention he wanted. It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

Liara pushed her way through the crowd of supporters and put her hand on Holly's back next to Garrus, "Holly…"

Jack was still across the room. "Holly, I'm sorry, I…"

Holly remained silent. The only sound in the room was the sound of his quiet sobbing.

"Holly?" Garrus whispered.

Holly couldn't take it anymore. Everybody was looking at him. Everybody knew. They had to. Why else would he cry at a  _porn DVD?_  They all knew. They had to. He felt so embarrassed and humiliated. Holly repeatedly shook his head from side to side before bursted his way out of the couch and ran away, towards he spiral staircase next to the elevator across the room.

"Holly, wait!" Garrus cried out when he bursted from his grip, but it was too late. He had already bolted. He wasn't going to stay there and have everybody try and comfort him—he brought this on himself. He needed to be alone.

Jack quickly tried to bolt after him, but she stopped herself. Everybody was quiet.

Holly ran to the top of his tower and slammed himself on the bed to cry violently into his pillow. This was the second day of sobbing in a row—what was wrong with him? Why was he like this? Why couldn't he just live a normal life and not have to deal with all of this?

"I am confused." EDI said, breaking the awkward silence, "What are 'Wet and Tan Girls'?"


	4. The Truth

So now, here he was. A 15 year old baby crying at his own birthday party. Maybe he just overreacted—it was a just a joke, right? It sure as hell wasn't funny, but… it  _was_ a joke.

There was silent, yet aggressive arguing going on downstairs. Holly could hear it all, as he sat on his bed with his hands wrapped feebly around his legs.

"I can't  _believe_ you, Jack!" Shepard scolded. "You're supposed to be one of his closest family members. He calls you  _Aunt Jack_. Don't you know  _anything_ about hi-"

"Of course I know!" Jack snapped. The sound of her voice wasn't very hardy anymore. "I f—…I  _messed up_. I thought he was old enough, I don't know. You know me Shepard, I don't think these things through. I wasn't raised like that."

Miranda scoffed, "Obviously."

"SHUT UP!"

"Look, why don't I go have a talk with him?" Garrus inquired. "See how he's…taking this."

Nobody responded, so Holly just assumed his parents nodded. The elevator was called back down.

Holly felt like his entire plans were now thrown out the window. He wanted to make it special—come out to his family on his  _own terms_. He couldn't stay angry at Jack, but…it just wasn't fair. What would it look like if he came out  _now_? He just couldn't bare the idea. The whole mood of the party would be buzz killed.

The elevator shot back up to Holly's tower and Garrus came inside. He opened with a joke, "Well, if you ask me, I think that went fairly well."

Holly turned to Garrus but didn't say anything. Garrus walked over to his bed and put his hand on Holly's back supportively. "I know that was messed up of Jack, but don't let that ruin your birthday! You can still have a good time. And you can still tell your parents about—"

"Can I? Can I really?" Holly sighed. He had stopped crying now that Garrus was here, but still felt like a failure to his family. "This is what everybody expects of me. They all want me to be that 'shining star son' that marries an Asari and saves the world once again. But I'm not. At best, I'll spend my days married to some Asari snob that works for the Citadel and I'll just stay at home, eating chips and watching Turian soap operas."

"That's awfully detailed." Garrus said. "And untrue. Your life is yours to make—nobody else's. What does it matter what people think or say? I learned—well, all of us did—a very long time ago that we only have one life to live. One galaxy to explore. And there's no way we're going to do that while we're miserable and sitting on the couch. And we also learned, early on, to  _never_ give up."

"Giving up is easier than pressing on."

"You're right, it is. But it's  _always_ worth the effort."

Holly unclenched his legs and wiped away all the tears still sitting below his eyes. He looked to Garrus and asked, "So what do you think I should do?"

"Go back downstairs and finish your birthday. The rest will come when it comes."

Holly shook his head, "I don't think I can. Everybody knows something is wrong now. What 15 year old doesn't want porn? I should have gotten those DVDs with a smile on my face, and then my mom was supposed to swipe them away and throw them in the crash. But that didn't happen, because I'm not a normal 15 year old. I don't know what I am—I'm a freak."

Garrus rubbed Holly's back, "This isn't as uncommon as you think it is, Holly. I know for a fact that your parents will still love you know matter what. You know that  _I_  still do. Family sticks together."

"And if they don't love me?"

"Then you still have me." Garrus nodded, "I'm a war veteran, and I have more than enough room at my house for a nephew to stay in. I even have a butler."

Garrus had gotten Holly to chuckle. It felt good to laugh again; they were having such a fun day before that whole event. Holly wanted that back. "So I should just…go back downstairs and brush it off?"

"Or don't brush it off. It's your choice. At the end of the day, Holly, you're the only one who can plan out your life. Nobody else."

Holly listened to Garrus. He couldn't let one mistake ruin this birthday party. For the time being, maybe it was better to just not think about the future and live in the moment. Everybody downstairs was there for him—this was his party. It was going to go the way he wanted it.

One the elevator ride down, Garrus advice kept ringing in Holly's ear. All these people have been through so much, and Holly was only 15 years old. He still had a lot of growing to do. But these people were going to be with him along the way. And to be honest, he was  _lucky_ to even be in the company of some of his family. They were heroes, legends, inter-galactic saviors! And they were family, HIS family.

When the doors opened down in the living room, everyone in the room diverged their attention. It was dead silence, not even the very blunt characters in the room were making a crack. Jack immediately got out of her chair and turned to Holly. "Look, kid, I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to…for you to…"

"It's ok, Jack." Holly said. Despite everything she did, Holly still went forward and gave her a hug.

James leaned forward on the couch, "So, uh…Since Holly doesn't want it, you don't suppose that  _I_ could…"

"NO!" Liara said in a cruel tone.

Holly broke away from Jack and backed away a bit as Garrus sat back down. "Look, everybody, there's something that I wanna say."

"Right now?" Garrus asked.

"Yes, I don't think there's going to be a better time. And I'm tired of keep it from everyone."

All eyes turned to him. Shepard and Liara looked a bit puzzled but didn't question anything. This was it. He was going to tell them. Why? Because Garrus was right—he couldn't give up and live a lie. No matter what. And there had to be at least  _one_ person in the room who understood him. And if they didn't, he at least had Garrus. So now there was no turning back."

"Um…well…first I want to thank you for coming to my party. I was kinda nervous at first, but…I realized that I really don't need to be. You're all my family. And nothing will change that."

"You realized that after seeing a porn DVD?" Joker wise cracked.

Liara quickly rocketed her eyes to him, "SHH!", to which he made an embarrassed face and put his hands up to plead guilty.

Holly was nervously stuttering through the entire speech. "I-I know this is awkward timing, but um…I wanted to tell you guys that. I love you guys."

Kaiden raised his root beer, "We all love you too. Cheers to Holly."

Every followed suit and raised their drinks to him. It felt very warming to see them all do that—maybe that'll make it easier to say the rest of his speech. His hands were cold and sweaty and he was standing in a petrified position.

"But um…there's something else I had to say," Holly continued, "And because of what happened just now, I…I think it's about time I told you. All of you. You see, I…um. I…I—"

Everyone continued to be silent. They were all waiting for him to finish. This was it, once he said it, there was no going back. In the back of his head, Holly was praying to whatever spiritual figure there was in the galaxy that he wouldn't regret what he was about to say. His eyes went directly to his parents—he needed to know their reaction immediately.

"—I don't like Asari. I mean, I do! I mean, I…I don't like them in that way. And…I don't like girls."

There were some raised eyebrows in mild shock, which included his parents, but Holly expected that. Traynor, who Holly knew identified as a lesbian, had a supportive grin gleaming from her face. Holly knew she was going to take it well…but if only that were all of the news.

Holly's parents were both smiling. Shepard was leaned up against Liara with her elbow against Liara's shoulder, she looked at her life and they both had the same look in their eyes. Garrus was supportive as ever, nodding his head between each and every pause Holly made.

"That's  _it_?" Shepard said gleefully. "Sheesh, Holly, here I was thinking you had committed some terrible crime—"

"—But that…isn't everything I wanted to say."

Everybody's grins started to soften, not in a bad way, but Holly could tell they were concerned by the tone is his voice. He had already come this far, now they knew one part of it, but there was still more. And he was going to tell them everything.

"—I don't like girls. I…I like boys. But not, um…not humans."

There was another pause. Some people seemed to be eager for Holly to actually spit it out.

Jack jested, "So what, you like Elcor?"

"No, I…I know you're all going to think I'm some sort of sick pervert. But I like—" Holly gulped, "—Turians."

People were looking around at each other, seemingly wondering what the big shock was. Holly couldn't believe it.

"Wait, so you were afraid you were some sick twisted fiend, just because you liked male Turians?" Traynor asked, "Oh, love, that's not weird at all."

"W-What?" Holly said. His face had gone completely pale, and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Nobody was surprised. Nobody thought less of him.

Liara, smiling brightly with tears in her eyes, stepped forward to embrace Holly in her motherly hold. "Oh, Holly…why didn't you tell us sooner. You had us so worried."

Holly wasn't going to cry, he was happy. Shepard soon walked over and joined them in a family hug. "I didn't want to worry you, I just thought…I mean, I'm the child of heroes, and I'm not hero…"

Shepard ruffled Holly's hair, "You are a hero. I know that wasn't easy to say, but you know what? It's not a big deal, kid. It really isn't."

"R-Really?"

Holly looked over to the rest of the group, and everybody nodding and saying things like "Yeah!" "Of course!" "This isn't the back in the 2000's, these kind of these aren't even a big deal anymore." The conversation had flown back into full swing now and the noise level was steadily rising once again. This wasn't a big deal.

Traynor raised her glass once again and exclaimed, "Finally, another queer in the mix! And a  _boy_ no less! Now I can finally start that club."

"Hey, I told you I was bi years ago." Kaiden joked. Traynor made fun of him with by puppeteering with her hand.

Holly turned his attention back to his parents when they let go of their hug, "So you two don't think I'm a freak?"

"Of course not." Shepard said comfortingly, "Your mother and I aren't exactly pitch perfect either, but that's ok. It's not about who you are, or who you love, it's how you live."

Jack stood back up and walked over to Holly once his parents had let him go. She was scratching the back of her head and had very red embarrassed cheeks. "So uh…I guess I look like a real bitch now, huh?"

Holly at his Aunt Jack. "It's ok. It's not like you  _knew_."

"Haha…" She said, still looking away awkwardly. "So…Turians, huh? I guess I'll remember that for your next birthday. Wait—you know what Turians look like…you know…"

"Oh trust me, I know." Holly winked.

Jack erupted in roaring laughter and slapped her knee, "Hahaha! You little scamp! I knew I didn't believe that little innocence look for a second."

Holly excused himself from Jack to go talk to everybody else. The support was overwhelming. Nobody was batting an eyelash, and people kept their conversations like nothing was happening. It felt great.

When Holly walked over to the couch where Kaiden, Traynor and Samatha were sitting, Holly was bombarded with words of encouragement from them. Miranda gave Holly a hug and told him that he nothing to ashamed of, and she still thought of him like a nephew just like Jack did. Traynor gave him a high five for becoming a member of the intergalactic queer community, and Kaiden even made a joke that when he was old enough, he'd give Holly the numbers of all the cute Turian guys he's met a bars that he never hooked up with.

Even the quiet crowd like Samara had encouraging things to say. She commented to Holly that 'liberating his sexual restrictions is a very evolved way of thinking and should deserves to be celebrated on an intergalactic level.'

But then it came down to the heart of it all: Holly's parents. They had nothing but unconditional love support for him.

Everybody was shooting the breeze—that is for Garrus, who had a spot right next to him, waiting for Holly to walk over.

Garrus had that Turian smile Holly knew and loved. Holly sat next to him and looked around the room at his family. He realized how silly he was for obsessing over something like this for so long—and it didn't even matter. He had worried for nothing.

Garrus leaned over to Holly, "How do you feel?"

Holly couldn't stop smiling. "Better than I ever imagined."

"By the way, I know from experience that some other dashing Turian males aren't the nicest of faces. So you're going to have to run your dates by Uncle Garrus. Hope that's alright."

Holly giggled and proceeded to wrap his arms around Garrus' waist. "That's a promise."


	5. Epilogue

Three months of summer vacation went by after Holly finally came out to his family, and by some strange grace of destiny, things began to look up for him— one thing after another. It was almost surreal how just one decision, one act of bravery, could change the path of his whole life. All for the better.

Shepard and Liara realized very quickly that having Holly study at Vista Academy wasn't a very productive plan. Once Holly told them the root of his stress at school, they began looking for a better option. It look Liara some persuasion, since she studied there for most of her childhood until she became a Maiden. But the moment they found a new school, Liara was the first one to give them a call. And that place was the "Thessia Intergalactic Institute".

This school was part of a new school district created by the Citadel Council to unite students from all around the galaxy. The goal was to start unifying all the major Citadel races through education. Schools had been built on Earth, Palaven, Sur'Kesh, and now most recently—Thessia. It was recently brought to Asari home planet within the last year, along with a large batch of foreign exchange students. Holly was absolutely thrilled. It was an extra 20 minute drive to school, so Holly had to get up earlier, but it was entirely worth it.

Holly knew he belonged there as soon as he started his first day of classes. There were so many different courses: Linguistics, Genetics, Weapon Mechanics, Ship Mechanics—but Holly found his home primarily in the Film Study class. The things he learned in that class about Asari film, Human film (even Elcor film), inspired him to one day to venture into the film industry. He wasn't sure yet, but he didn't have to be.

One of the greatest things that happened over the summer between schools was that Garrus decided to completely move to Thessia full time. Holly's parents were really grateful for helping Holly through his stressful coming out experience, and as soon as a house was available in their neighborhood, Shepard gave Garrus a ring and he was moved out of his house in only 2 weeks. Garrus even picked up Holly every day after school to take him home, and Holly was even allowed to spend the weekends with him. That is, with the occasional trip to the movies in-between.

But perhaps the greatest thing that happened to Holly during these three months was something that Holly didn't think he'd be expecting for quite a long time. That thing was a boy—a Turian boy—by the name of Gaius. He was one of the foreign exchange students who grew up on the Citadel. Holly met him in his film studies class, and instantly hit it off when he found out he was a fellow Jango Varen enthusiast. They started as best friends—and then, during one of their many re-viewings of " _Starlights_ " at the theatre, Gaius leaned over and kissed Holly on the cheek. From that moment on, it was official.

Garrus approved.

Reflecting over everything that happened over the last few months, Holly couldn't help but smile. He no longer felt self-conscious, he didn't feel like a freak, and he was able to go to the mall and hold Gaius' hand without anybody batting an eye. Holly knew hate existed in those dark corners of galaxy, and there were always going to be people who didn't like who he was, but that didn't matter. It's like Garrus told him: We only have one life to live. We had to make the most of it while we still had it, and Holly knew there was only one way to live it—as himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Palaven Holly Playlist Available on 8tracks!](http://8tracks.com/solarlunarxiii/palaven-holly)


End file.
